Pubdate: Thu, 19 Apr 2007
Source: Oxford Student (UK Edu)
Copyright: 2007 Oxford Student Services Limited
Contact: http://www.oxfordstudent.com/contact/
Website: http://www.oxfordstudent.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4154
Author: Katie Cotton

OXFORD DON - CIGARETTES MORE DANGEROUS THAN ECSTASY

An Oxford Professor has co-written a report which  ranked ecstasy and
cannobis below alcohol and tobacco  in terms of individual and social
harm. The report,  published by The Lancet in March, criticises the
current ABC system of classification of drugs in the  UK. It claims to
"suggest a new system for assessing  the potential harms of drugs on
the basis of fact and  scientific knowledge". Three categories i?="
physical  harm, dependence and social harm i?=" were
established.

Each drug was given a score in each category and these  scores were
added up to produce a final result. Heroin  was ranked as the most
dangerous drug. Controversially,  ecstasy was ranked 18th and cannobis
11th whilst  tobacco was ranked 9th and alcohol 5th. Professor Colin
Blakemore, of Magdalen College and chief of the Medical  Research
Council, said, "The current ABC system pays  too much attention to
adverse reactions which affect  very few people.

Class A drugs have been demonised by the media, who  have not been
terribly responsible by focusing on cases  such as Leah Betts. They do
not say that this is one of  a very few people who die from ecstasy
compared with  the tens of thousands who die from alcohol consumption
i?=" one has to get these things into balance. "90% of  all drug
related deaths are caused by alcohol and  tobacco and we accept it
because they are legal, we  think we can't do anything about it. Well,
we should.

The clearest message that came out of our report is  that we must
consider the real social harms caused by  alcohol and tobacco."
Professor Blakemore also  criticised the government's policy on drugs.
"Their  scare tactics simply do not work, as the facts show.  Half a
million to a million young people will use  ecstasy on any one
weekend. They are using their  personal experience to guide them when
they should have  objective evidence at their disposal.

The Home Office has shown no interest in introducing a  new
classification system. It cities harm reduction as  its aim and
claims, "The Drug Strategy is delivering  tangible improvements in
communities across the  country. The number of drug-related deaths has
fallen  by 14% from 2002 to 2004. Increasing quantities of  drugs are
being seized and organised crime groups and  dealers have been
disrupted. Record numbers of of drug  misusers are entering and
staying in treatment.

An anonymous Oxford student who uses ecstasy said,  "There definitely
needs to be more accessible  information about drugs. At the moment,
all people are  told is "you might die", which means people who may
wish to experiment don't know the real risks and  possible side
affects and therefore trust their  friends, who may not be a reliable
source.

A new independent commission, the UK Drug Policy  Commission, of which
Blakemore is a member, will be  launched this month with a major
review of UK drug  policy.
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MAP posted-by: Derek